ent. His high calling is by wise guidance to help the
singer to get out of his own way, to cease standing in front of
himself. Technical training is not all in all. Simple recognition of
the existence of our powers is needed even more. Freedom comes through
the recognition and appropriation of inherent power; recognition comes
first, the appropriation then follows simply. The novice does not know
his natural power, his birthright, and must be helped to find it,
chiefly, however, by helping himself, by cognizing and re-cognizing
it.

No student of the most human of all arts--singing--need give up if he
has burning within him the _song impulse_, the _hunger to sing_. This
inner impulse is by its strength an evidence of the power to sing; the
very hunger is a promise and a prophecy.

DETERRENTS

The deterrents to beautiful singing are physical in appearance, but
these are outer signs of mental or emotional disturbance. Normal
poise, which is strength, smilingly expresses itself in curves, in
tones of beauty.

_Mental discord_ results in angularity, rigidity, harshness.

_Impatience_ produces feverishness that makes vocal poise impossible;
and impatience induces the modern vice of forcing the tone. Growth is
a factor for which hurried forcing methods make no allowance.

_Excess of emotion_ with its loss of balance affects the breathing and
play of the voice.

_Exertion_, trying effort, instead of easy, happy activity induces
hampering rigidities.

_Intensity_, over-concentration, or rather false concentration,
emotional tension, involves strain, and strain is always wrong.

_Over-conscientiousness_, with its fussiness about petty detail, and
insistence on non-essentials, is a deterrent from which the robust are
free. _Over-attention to the mechanics_ of voice production is a
kindred deterrent. Both deterrents prevent that prime characteristic
of expression--spontaneity.

_Anxiety_ is a great contractor of muscle, a great stiffener. Anxiety
always forgets the _power_ within, and falsely says to the
song-hunger, "You shall never be satisfied."

_Self-repression_ is a great deterrent that afflicts the more
sensitive, particularly those of puritanic inheritance. It is a
devitalizer and a direct negative to expression, which is vital, is
_life_.

All of these deterrents are negative and may be overcome by fuller
recognition of the inner power that by its very nature must
perpetually seek positive expression.